Emergency door release handles in railway cars are well known. Generally, such a handle is connected to pull a cable to operate a mechanism in a car, such as to result in the doors of the car being opened, for example. Very often, the handle is encased inside the interior wall surface and protected by glass. Under emergency conditions, a person would break the glass to gain access to the handle.
A U.S. Pat. No. 2,229,273 to Brockway discloses another type of emergency door actuator for vehicles.
In the case where the emergency handle is encased inside a wall and covered by a glass sheet, a person normally must first find an object with which to break the glass before the handle can be reached. This is time consuming and inconvenient in an emergency situation. Also, after the handle is actuated to pull the cable, there is no limit to the amount of excess force exerted on the cable. This may cause damage to the cable and associated parts.